Bangalore building collapse that killed 6 points due to violation of rules by builders

The building collapse in Babusapalya has exposed the ugly reality of Bengaluru that is staring everyone in the face, but no one is ready to talk about it, be it the citizens, the bureaucrats or the politicians. The blatant violation of building plans and floor space ratio has come to the fore with the collapse of the building which has killed six people and left several injured.

Babusapalya in east Bengaluru is dotted with income allotments without proper plans, civic amenities or even proper roads. But in a city where real estate prices are out of reach for middle-class families, these properties offer an affordable option for buyers. Builders are taking advantage of this by building apartment complexes on 30×40 and 60×40 plots, violating the approved plans, building surplus floors. Most of them are on 15-foot roads.

These flats are then sold to citizens looking for affordable housing, without the appropriate certificate of occupancy and with a temporary power connection. In fact, local citizen groups in Bengaluru East had pointed out this illegal construction to the BBMP Zonal Commissioner in August this year.

The building that collapsed in Babusapalya on Tuesday was a classic example of this. The six storied building was constructed on a 60×40 plot situated on a 15 feet road, while the BBMP can only allow ground floor + 3 here. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar admitted that it was an illegal construction. “It is a big illegality that they have built such a big building on a 60×40 plot, our officers have issued them three notices. But that is not all, they should have taken action against it,” he said.

When CNN-News18 traveled to the location, several such projects could be seen that had constructed 5-6 storey buildings, completed and occupied by citizens. It’s a problem affecting several newer areas that have sprung up in Bangalore in the last decade.

The Deputy Chief Minister has promised to conduct a city-wide survey to identify these buildings in the coming days. “Innocent people are being sold and buying these properties because it is available for a lower price, we will conduct a survey in the coming days and draw up a plan to stop it once and for all. Of course, action will also be taken against our officials,” he said.

The collapsed building was nearing completion and would have been occupied in the coming weeks. The scale of such a goal would have been greater had it occurred a few weeks later.

The building belongs to one Muniraju Reddy from Andhra Pradesh, his son Mohan Reddy resides at Malleshwaram in Bengaluru and the police are looking for them.

But the bigger question is whether the police will book the local BBMP engineer who allowed this building and who will be held responsible for the loss of life.